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Saturday, May 25, 2013

SOUTH AFRICA: 29 die: ANC wants faster inquiry

S. Africa's ANC Criticizes Circumcision Investigation

by Franz Wild

South Africa’s ruling African National Congress criticized the slow
pace of a police investigation into the death of 35 young men during
traditional initiation ceremonies.

Twenty-nine boys and young men 13 years to 21 years old died in the
eastern Mpumalanga province during this year’s rituals that involve
circumcisions, police spokesman Colonel Leonard Hlati said in a phone
interview today. Another six died in the northern Limpopo province,
according to the ANC.

“While we are fully supportive of the practice of initiation, we
believe it should not be a death sentence to so many young people,” the
ANC said in an e-mailed statement today. [So how many should it be a death sentence for?]

Every year, thousands of boys participate in initiation ceremonies in
South Africa, where they undergo a series of trials as a rite of
passage into manhood.

In 2009 and 2010, 145 boys died because of complications related to
their circumcision, and another 1,200 were hospitalized, according to a
2010 report by the Johannesburg-based Commission for the Promotion and
Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic
Communities, a government group.

Poorly carried out circumcisions can lead to infection and penile amputation, the report said.

The police are taking witness statements before turning the case over to the National Prosecution Authority, Hlati said.

Parliament’s health committee said the deaths were unnecessary and
questioned whether correct procedures were taken during the
circumcisions.

“Initiates are supposed to undergo tests to establish whether or not
they are in good condition to be circumcised,” the lawmakers said in a
statement this week. “There must also be provision of medical support in
case of emergencies at the initiation schools.”